Skin Tag vs Wart: Pictures, Differences, and What If Found on Genital?

Most likely they are either warts or skin tags, and there are differences between both.

If you want to get rid of them, you should first identify which kind of skin condition you have.

We will review through all the details about skin tag vs wart, including a comparison table outlining their key differences.

You will learn what they are, what is causing them, what are the symptoms, skin tags and HPV warts location (including genital warts on female and male), how they can impact your health and if they can be contagious, treatment options, and skin tag vs wart comparison table.

Skin Tag vs Wart – Causes, Symptoms, Appearance.

According to NHS UK, skin tags are formed of fibers of collagen and blood vessels that surround your skin. They are small protuberances and abnormal formation that turns in the excessive skin, may be as big as 2” wide.

These skin lesions are soft flap of tissue that held on to the skin by a stalk. The colour of skin tags differs, as they can be same color of your skin, but there can be color variations. There are no previous symptoms, and when skin tags appear, they can grow fast.

Skin tags are closely related to age in which they tend to occur in older people. Additionally, hormone elevations during pregnancy, obesity, and type 2 diabetes are among other factors that may cause skin tag.

Dr. Benjamin Barankin of the Toronto Dermatology Centre elaborates more on skin tag in the brief video below, which also shows skin tag pictures.

Warts, on the other hand, are rough and irregular. Most warts have the shape of an oval, and their size can go as big as ½”.

Warts appear due to the HPV (Human PapillomaVirus). They grow slowly with no previous symptoms, with wart is an evidence of low-risk HPV’ presence whereby you can learn more in this HPV and warts guide.

The appearance of warts is not immediate after HPV infection. It may take several weeks or months before you notice the wart growing when keratin is produced in excess, creating the lump on top of your skin.

Most warts are isolated, but it is possible to find them in groups too. Most groups of warts appear due to the reinfection of oneself when people scratch or pinch their warts.

Watch the excellent video below from DNews that gives a lively overview on warts as the second most common skin problem we face, including images of different wart types, how and why do they form.

Skin Tags and Warts Location on Body

While skin tags can appear on any part of skin, they tend to appear where the skin rubs the most.

The most common location of skin tags on bodies are neck, armpits, axillae, groin, inner thigh, under breast, eyelids, buttocks, and genitals.

Warts commonly appear in the most exposed parts of the body, like hands and feet. However, any body part can be attacked by a wart outbreak, including genital area of male and female.

The characteristics and symptoms of warts depend on type of warts that are usually classified both by their location on the body and by their appearance.

Health Impact – Are They Dangerous and Contagious?

Skin tags are harmless, and you can leave them with no risk to your health.

However, while skin tags by themselves are not a health threat, they may be warning indicators that something may be wrong with your body, as these skin lesions may appear in early stages of obesity and before more serious illness like cardiovascular issues or diabetes appear.

For instance, as revealed by the American Academy of Dermatology, having numerous skin tags may be a sign that a person has type 2 diabetes or excessive insulin in the blood.

According to MedicineNet, skin tags are not contagious, but the HPV strains that cause skin warts are very contagious with wart virus can spread easily. As such, a sudden outbreak or cluster of growths is more likely to be warts.

Direct skin contact can pass the wart virus from on person to another, and indirect virus transmission may also occur by contacting with objects that have had contact with skin infected with HPV virus. The most common objects are shoes, socks, and towels – while the areas where you can get the HPV that causes warts include public pools and common changing areas and bathrooms that have moist environment as the preferred habitats for HPV, as revealed by ACFAOM (The American College of Foot & Ankle Orthopedics & Medicine).

Warts themselves do not pose danger to health and will usually go away on their own, as warts-causing HPV is cleared by the immune system in most cases.

Some people may worry that their genital warts will become cancerous, but having genital wart virus infection does not mean you will get cancer, because genital warts are caused by low risk HPV (e.g. HP-6 and HPV-11) that are not the same strains of high risk HPV, such as HPV-16 and HPV-18 that cause cervical cancer.

#2: Surgery

Skin tags and warts are removed using the same sort of procedures, with almost all the surgery options for warts can be applied on skin tags as well in order to remove them.

Most people consider invasive surgery as the last option because of scarring concern, and the expensive cost usually not covered by health insurance as surgical removal of wart and skin tag is generally considered cosmetic and not medically necessary.

Burning off the skin tag or wart by using electric current that passes through a wire that becomes hot.

Differences Between Skin Tag vs Wart: Comparison Summary

Skin tags are often confused with HPV warts because of similarity in their look. However, both of these skin lesions have different causes, appearances, contagiousness and characteristics – despite they can appear on any body part and share similar treatment options.

Important Disclaimer: The content on this site is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice. Any statements made on this website have not been evaluated by the FDA and any information or products discussed are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease or illness. See a certified medical professional for diagnosis and treatment recommendations. The advertising and promotion of prescription only medication in Europe is prohibited and unlawful.

Website Affiliate Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Additionally, we participate in various other affiliate programs and we sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links.